Building Bird Houses For Cavity Nesters

When building bird houses it's important to know what types of
birds you'll be building the house for. One size does not fit all when it comes
to building bird houses. Bluebirds and House Wrens have different entrance hole
sizes and height requirements.

(Size Chart Below.)

While it's possible to get birds to nest in any bird house you
build, you'll have greater success attracting the birds you want by building
nest boxes to the proper size, and using the correct materials and
dimensions.

There are more than 50 different North American birds that
will use man-made bird houses. With so much competition from House Sparrows
and Starlings, it's important that we help by building properly constructed
bird houses where we can.

Some of the types of birds that use bird houses are:
Bluebirds, Wrens, Chickadees and Tree Swallows.

Building a bird house
can be a wonderful way to spend time with children. It can be a fun way for a
child to learn about nature and stay entertained at the same time.

The chart below will be useful to more experience
woodworkers in building bird houses for some of the more common types of birds.

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Some things to keep in mind when building bird houses
are: Choose the right material, birds in the wild nest in old trees, fence post,
or utility poles. Wood is the preferred material for building nesting boxes.

Ideally, a naturally decay-resistant wood such as cedar,
redwood or a good grade of exterior plywood is best for building bird houses.

Wood should be 3/4" thick anything less will allow heat to
build up which is detrimental to young birds.

Make sure that you provide proper drainage so as to keep the
nest and its contents dry. You can do this with an ample overhang on the roof
and 1/4" drain holes bored in each corner of the floor.

Ventilation can be provided by drilling 1/2" vent holes at
the top of each side or with a ventilation gap between the roof and sides.

The hole dimension probably is the most critical when
building bird houses. If it's too small, your chosen bird species may not be
able to enter the house. If it's too large, it could allow bigger, more
aggressive species such as starlings or sparrows to use the houses.

Predator guards are another necessary feature. These can be
as simple as an additional piece of wood at the entry hole to add more "depth"
to the face of the box.

This makes it more difficult for a predator to reach into
the nest. You also can drill the entry hole at an angle to deflect a predator's
reach up and away from the nest.

Never add a perch when building bird houses. Birds don't
need it, but it could be an advantage to predators.

Once the young are ready to fledge, building an easy exit is
necessary. This can be done in several ways. You can place the rough side of the
wood to the inside of the house, you can score the inside of the box or you can
add a piece of small gauge screen or small pieces of wood to act as a ladder for
the young birds.

You also must provide easy access for clean out. You can do
this simply by hinging the front panel or one of the side panels or by having a
removable floor or roof.

Building bird houses is a hobby that can be fun and
rewarding. Consider giving bird houses as gifts to friends and family. Even if
they are not now a birdwatcher, they might become one once they see a family of
birds nesting in the house that you built.

In addition to building bird houses consider building or
puchasing a nesting shelf. Some birds, such
as the American Robin, Eastern Phoebe, Barn swallows, and Mourning Doves can be
attracted to nest on these. No matter what type of birdhouse you decide to
build, a Birdhouse Video Camera will make it
even more enjoyable. Give it a try, you might be surprised.

This is where you tell us all about your birdhouse. Things like where you got the idea, materials used such as stones, sticks, shingles etc. The more you share the better.

Your submission will appear on a Web page exactly the way you enter it here. You can wrap a word in square brackets to make it appear bold. For example [my homemade birdhouse] would show as My Homemade Birdhouse on the Web page containing your submission.

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